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DUBAI:

Ahead of the summer school break in the UAE, airfares to the Indian subcontinent and the United Kingdom, will skyrocket, according to travel industry sources,

Airfares started rising from February-March to Asia, the Middle East and the UK. The travel industry has traditionally seen a spurt in fares during the summer holidays and Eid holidays. Fares to popular cities such as London are set to double during the peak summer travel days and during Eid Al Adha.

Air India has added some flights on the UAE route during the summer, providing temporary stability on certain days.

Travel peaks during the summer holidays when schools are closed, pushing airfares substantially higher. During summer breaks, Indian curriculum schools are usually closes in the first week of July. Since Eid Al Adha is likely to fall on June 28, some schools may choose to close a week or so early. British schools are closed from June onwards till the last week of August or 1st week of September.

Over the past few years, short-haul destinations such as East European and CIS countries have been in top demand for travel and tourism among UAE residents.

An industry source said that people have started booking early and airfares started increasing from February-March onwards on the Indian Sub-continent and European routes because Eid is also falling at the beginning of the vacation, hence, schools may close early this year.

He said that rates are rising because there are no additional seats allocated during summer and airlines are making the most of this seasonal advantage. There is increased traffic to South India because of the Onam festival in August.

Airfares to India are steady at the moment as the carrier has added some more flights.

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Inbound flights from India will remain suspended until July 31, Etihad Airways confirmed. Earlier Emirates had made a similar announcement.

Etihad said on Twitter in reply to a customer query: “Following the latest UAE Government directives, passenger travel from India to the UAE and Etihad’s network has been suspended effective until 31 July 2021.”

There has been a travel ban on flights from India since April owing to the surge in COVID-19 cases in the country; the second wave had seen the spread of the highly transmissible ‘Delta’ variant virus.

But UAE nationals, holders of UAE Golden Visas and members of diplomatic missions who comply with the updated COVID-19 protocols, are exempt from the ban.

Emirates has also suspended flights to and from South Africa and Nigeria till July 31, 2021, in line with government directives.

Although Emirates briefly announced that international flights to Dubai will begin for vaccinated residents on June 23, the decision was revised and the ban was put in place till July 21. The airlines will keep tickets open for passengers who have encountered a flight cancellation.

However, Indian expats desperate to get back to their work in the UAE, have used other means to enter the country. They have taken flights to countries in the UAE green list – Uzbekistan, Serbia, Armenia, Ethiopia etc. – and spent the required 14-day quarantine in those countries before flying to the UAE.

Chauffeur service for economy passengers

Etihad has now rolled out a private chauffeur service for economy passengers to select destinations. They will be collected from Abu Dhabi International Airport and taken directly to their home, hotel or preferred destination in the emirate of Dubai. Indian cities do not figure in the list of destinations as of now.

The offer has come as a welcome news for holiday makers during the six-day Eid al Adha holiday beginning on July 19.

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The Supreme Committee for Dealing with COVID-19 in the Sultanate of Oman has announced that the country will recommence international flights suspended since March due to COVID-19 pandemic. The opening of air traffic for international flights will start from October 1, 2020, provided that the flights are scheduled according to the data for specific destinations and the bilateral agreements with the various air carriers, it said.

Following the decision, Oman Airports is preparing to restart passenger operations and re-commence international and domestic flight services gradually from all the airports in the Sultanate. New travel protocols as well as a series of precautionary and preventive measures will be implemented in compliance with the directives issued by the Ministry of Health and other relevant authorities in order to protect the safety and health of all passengers, employees and users of the airports.

Oman’s Ministry of Health announced on September 17 that the total number of positive COVID-19 cases in the Sultanate reached 91,753, while the number of recoveries reached 84,648. The total number of COVID-19 related death stood at 818, it said.

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The Supreme Committee tasked with tackling developments resulting from Covid-19 which met on September 7 under the Chairmanship of Sayyid Hamoud bin Faisal al-Busaidi, Minister of Interior, has decided to set October 1 as the date for starting scheduled international flights. This will be in accordance with health data about specific destinations and in line with agreements with other aviation companies.

Hence, it is likely that Oman will categorise destinations based on the scale of the coronavirus outbreak in each country.

Oman had closed its airports in March following the outbreak of the pandemic.

Flights have remained open for citizens and residents, and anyone entering Oman must quarantine for 14 days, either at home or in a hotel. All foreign citizens arriving in the country must have health insurance. In July, Oman Airports requested bids for the installation of PCR testing solutions, which could mean that travellers will be tested for the virus upon arrival.

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“During this period, the airline will operate services to Abu Dhabi from Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai to Abu Dhabi,” the company said in a statement on June 10. “All passengers must have ICA approval from the government of Abu Dhabi before they travel and will not be permitted to check-in without the necessary approvals.”

On July 9, India and the UAE agreed to operate special repatriation flights between the two countries from July 12-26.

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Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways has announced that it will add flight service to 15 more destinations. The services will begin from July 16.
“Throughout July, we’re planning to operate flights to more than 40 worldwide destinations. We continue to work closely with the UAE government and global aviation authorities to increase our network in the future,” said Etihad Airways.
From July 16, Etihad will be adding some major Indian cities such as Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kozhikode and Mumbai. It will also add the Maldives in the list. Etihad will be flying to Amman and Cairo from July 16. To Europe, the airline is adding flights to five cities, including Manchester, Munich and Istanbul.
The airline said passengers can check in and choose their seats online around 30 hours before departure. It is said passengers needn’t bother with a COVID-19 test before they travel to the airport.

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